OCR also pursues compliance by federal fund recipients by promulgating
regulations implementing the civil rights laws, by developing clear policy
guidance interpreting those laws, and by broadly disseminating this information
to educational institutions, parents, students, and others. Effective civil
rights enforcement in education requires that educational institutions understand
the legal and regulatory requirements and that students, parents, and other
members of the public understand their rights. To meet these goals, OCR issues
guidance in many different media, including through the Internet, and updates
and augments that guidance regularly to ensure that OCR guidance reflects current
developments in civil rights law and educational practice.

Race-Neutral Alternatives

In the 2003 University of Michigan decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court held
that diversity may be a compelling interest and institutions must undertake “serious
good faith consideration of workable race-neutral alternatives” before using
racial preferences to achieve student body diversity. In FY 2003, OCR began
an initiative to provide technical assistance and public education regarding
race-neutral approaches to achieving student body diversity.

OCR's continuation of this initiative seeks to foster innovative thinking
about using race-neutral means to produce diversity in educational institutions
and to help create a positive climate in which such race-neutral alternatives
can be considered. OCR released a report entitled “Achieving Diversity: Race-Neutral
Alternatives in American Education” on March 26, 2004. The report, a revised
and expanded version of OCR's 2003 report, “Race-Neutral Alternatives in Postsecondary
Education: Innovative Approaches to Diversity,” catalogs many of the race-neutral
approaches that K-12 schools, public and private colleges, and graduate and
professional schools are implementing across the country.

For example, the report describes partnerships between colleges and public
schools that facilitate mentoring; state partnerships with the College Board
to improve educational achievement among students attending low-performing
schools; use of socioeconomic criteria for student assignment and university
admissions; partnerships between community colleges and traditional research
institutions that encourage students to transfer into research institutions;
and class-rank plans guaranteeing university admission to high school seniors
who graduate within a specified percentage of their class.

Title IX Administrative Requirements

In April 2004, OCR issued a Dear Colleague Letter to the chief state school
officers and state and local education agencies to remind them of certain
requirements of the Title IX regulations. The regulations require recipients
to designate a Title IX coordinator, adopt and disseminate a nondiscrimination
policy, and implement grievance procedures to address complaints of discrimination
on the basis of sex in educational programs and activities. A similar letter
was issued in August 2004 to postsecondary institutions.

Rights of All Students

OCR issued a Dear Colleague Letter in September 2004 to local education
agencies and postsecondary institutions clarifying the rights of all students,
including students of faith, to be free from race, national origin, and sex
discrimination in cases where such discrimination may be commingled with religious
discrimination. The letter makes clear that, although OCR does not have jurisdiction
over religious discrimination, OCR will exercise its jurisdiction to enforce
the Title VI prohibition against national origin discrimination, regardless
of whether the groups targeted for discrimination also exhibit religious characteristics.
Thus, for example, OCR aggressively investigates alleged race or ethnic harassment
against Arab Muslim, Sikh and Jewish students.

In addition, the letter reminds educational institutions that they must formulate,
interpret, and apply their rules in a manner that respects the legal rights
of students and faculty, including those court precedents interpreting the
concept of free speech.

Extracurricular Activities

OCR issued a joint Dear Colleague Letter with the Civil Rights Division of
the U.S. Department of Justice reminding the chief state school officers and
school districts that extracurricular activities must be operated in a nondiscriminatory
manner. The letter makes clear that such practices as allocating awards or
honors on the basis of race (for example, racially separate homecoming queens
and kings, most popular student) or assistance in facilitating racially separate
proms are inconsistent with federal law and should not be tolerated. Further,
the letter states that the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department
of Justice will act promptly to remedy such violations where they occur, through
litigation, if necessary.